Simple and servile, dreamy Gelsomina is purchased from her impoverished mother by brutish circus strongman Zampanò. As his assistant, she becomes an adept carnival performer, but has to loyally endure his cruelty and abuse as they travel the Italian countryside performing together.

Fellini’s first masterpiece! Starring his wife and muse Giulietta Masina, it’s a modern fable as haunting as Nino Rota’s score, pitched on the edge of the everyday and the fantastic. Few directors knew how to so perfectly end a film. Winner of the first official Academy Award® for Best Foreign Film!